Reminder - No Guild Meeting in January
Instead you will have some more time to complete The President's challenge for 2025. Karen says anyone still wishing to rise to the challenge is to either make a series of work that shows your thought process in refining a technique or project OR share a work that you have made that incorporates a coded message. Any way you like!
All items will be shared at the February 24th meeting.
Fiber Fest - Call for Proposal
The event is June 13, 2026 in Warrensville Heights. They are looking for presenters, but also looks like an interesting event to attend.
Call for Proposals
Fiber Fest
June 13, 2026
You are invited to be a presenter at Fiber Fest, an exciting event dedicated to exploring both traditional and innovative techniques for working with fabric and fiber. This lively gathering will take place at the Warrensville Heights Branch of the Cuyahoga County Public Library on Saturday, June 13, 2026. We are seeking individuals and businesses interested in leading a demonstration or workshop that will inspire creativity, teach new skills, or promote experimentation. A diverse range of topics is welcome such as skills and techniques, fiber arts from around the world, reuse, and reinvention. The festival is designed for adults. Attendance will be free for all participants.
Demonstrations and workshops will occur both morning and afternoon. Attendees can choose from 45-minute demonstrations/presentations or 2.5-hour hands-on workshops where they can practice techniques and work towards completing a project. In addition, the Library will showcase its Innovation Center featuring machines and technologies available for fiber arts such as a long-arm quilting machine, embroidery machine, and more. Each meeting room has counter space, projectors, computer, and internet access. There will be a dedicated kitchen room for presenters equipped with microwave, refrigerator, instahot tap by sink.
Presenters will receive a stipend of $50 per demo and $125 per workshop. Additionally, we encourage presenters to showcase information about their services in the Resource Room accessible to all library patrons throughout the day. This is a fantastic opportunity to connect with the Fiber Arts Community.
The event is organized by Sew4Service in collaboration with the Cuyahoga County Public Library Adult Programming Department and is supported by grants from Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, the Fox Valley Region Foundation, and generous in-kind donations to Sew4Service.
To express your interest in being a teacher/presenter for this event, please complete this presenter form. Deadline for responses is February 15, 2026. We will notify you by March 9 regarding the status of your proposal.
Please share this with other Fiber Artists and Instructors.
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Lucy Kulbago
Executive Director | Sew4Service
Sew4Service
291 E. 222nd St
Euclid OH 44123
The Reverse Drafting Club from The Weaving Mill
Sharing an email that was sent to the guild that may be of interest to some members and potentially a program idea.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Greetings guild-leaders near and far, from cold Chicago!
My name is Emily Winter and I am director of The Weaving Mill and de-facto Reverse Drafting Club president. Reverse drafting is the process of unraveling woven fabrics and diagramming their construction on graph paper using draft notation. Our mail-based club is organized around quarterly mailings which include 3 swatches each, along with solutions to the previous installment's swatches (akin to the weekly crossword!) Each group of swatches tends to revolve around a theme: variations on a specific weave structure, material studies, etc. We design and weave all the fabrics for the RDC on our industrial dobby loom here at our studio in Chicago, then cut them down into 3" swatches to mail out to our members. We have been running the Reverse Drafting Club since 2022 ~ we have members signing up from all over the country, and even internationally! One year's membership costs $42 and includes 4 mailings of 3 swatches each, as well as invitations to virtual gatherings to discuss the swatches and access to a membership directory so folks can connect with other club members in their area.
One of our repeat members wrote this article about her experience with the club club for the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, and I am attaching an article I wrote about the RDC for the Summer 2023 issue of Shuttle Spindle & Dyepot.
I am writing today to 1) let you know about this very fun and special program 2) humbly request that you pass the word along to any of your members who might be interested! The club is far more fun with more members, and we've heard great feedback from folks who sign up as a group and host in-person study/unraveling sessions together.
In addition, I have given presentations to several weaving guilds (Illinois Prairie Weavers Guild, Weavers Guild of the North Shore, Weavers Guild of Greater Baltimore) on The Weaving Mill and the RDC, as well as virtual Reverse Drafting workshops. If those might be of interest to you as you plan your 2026-2027 programming, do let me know!
Wishing you a wonderful end of year, and thanks for taking the time to read this missive,
Emily Winter
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The Weaving Mill
1801 North Spaulding Avenue
Chicago, IL 60647
www.theweavingmill.com
New Items Listed for sale
Check out the Items for Sale page. Maybe a Christmas gift for you or a friend???
Nov 2025 Minutes are posted on the website
The minutes for the November meeting are now available in the Members Only section of the website. You will need to login to access it.
Website Update of PayPal payment options
On the Join page, the Button links to PayPal have been updated to go directly to a PayPal checkout page for the Guild.
There are now two buttons, one for individual membership ($25) and one for family membership ($35).
The checkout page now has the option to pay via PayPal or credit card. The fees to us are the same.
The QR code remains a direct link to the Guild’s Paypal account with a manual $ amount entry. We understand this may not working for everyone, thus the multiple options.
Posted By: Your Webmasters
WRSW Website Calendar Update
Effective immediately, the Guild Calendar has been moved to the Members Only section of the website which can only be accessed with the member password.
This is to maintain privacy of location information (members' home addresses) and the Zoom link.
Our intent is for all meeting information to be easy to find, in one place, in each calendar entry.
Posted by: Your Webmasters
Oct 2025 Minutes posted on the website
The minutes for the October meeting are now available in the Members Only section of the website. You will need to login to access it.
2026 Dues Reminder
Please pay your dues for 2026 before the end of November to help your friends on the Budget Committee.
Pay either online using the PayPal link on this site (found here) or send a check to Suzanne and earn a RAAM point!
Karen
WRSW Holiday Party
Get your party hats on! This year's Holiday Party will be on Saturday, December 6th from 11:30 to 1:30 at St. Martin's Episcopal Church in Chagrin Falls, 6295 Chagrin River Road, Chagrin Falls, Ohio 44022. https://maps.app.goo.gl/NTB7Ss53WqMLPK7T6
Chicken and vegetarian main courses will be provided. Attendees are asked to bring an appetizer, salad/side or dessert to round out the feast. Cost will be $15 each.
As in years past, there will be a gift exchange of handmade items. To participate, bring your well-wrapped fiber gift with a value of approximately $15; the gift can either be made by you or someone else. The game of the exchange is great entertainment, whether you are participating or just watching!
Please RSVP before December 1 whether you will attend and the category of your contribution (appetizer, salad/side, dessert) to karen.gerken@gmail.com
See you there!
It’s a Celebration!!
50 Years of Western Reserve Spinners & Weavers Guild
“Meet” our 14 Founders and learn about some of the history of the Guild’s early years, enjoy refreshments, and enter a chance for door prizes, all in the company of fiber friends.
You will also learn more about our new website.
Note: This in person only event will be held in the cafeteria.
Nov. 18 at 6:30 PM
Lake Metroparks Farmpark, 8800 Chardon Road, Kirtland
More Information on Mayan Textiles
So nice to receive a thanks from the speaker of the program on Mayan textiles Tuesday evening. What fun we all had admiring the details of cloth woven on a back-strap loom.
From Laura Martin:
“Joan, thank you so much. It was a pleasure to hang out with so many textile enthusiasts and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to get them excited about Mayan weaving.
Here is the information about the books I had with me, in case you think some in the group will be interested. There are lots more, of course, but these all coincide with the period in which I did most of my own collecting.
Guatemalan Textiles Today by Marilyn Anderson, 1978 (Watson-Guptill). Very detailed and heavily illustrated account of all aspects of Mayan weaving, including fibers used, dying, spinning, techniques such as looping (crocheting) and netting, and both back-strap and floor loom equipment and techniques.
Living Maya by Walter F. Morris, Jr., 1987 (Abrams). Beautifully illustrated account of life among the traditional Maya communities of Chiapas, Mexico, with special attention to weaving from ancient times to the present.
The Textiles of Guatemala by Regis Bertrand (photographer) and Danielle Magne (writer), 1991 (Studio Editions Ltd.). Valuable for its many close-up photographs of textiles designs and techniques. (Unfortunately uses the term “tribe” to describe Maya communities!)
Threads of Identity: Maya Costume of the 1960s in Highland Guatemala by Patricia B. Altman and Caroline D. West, 1992 (Fowler Museum of Cultural History, UCLA). Town-by-town descriptions of individual components of men’s and women’s traditional dress, linking textiles to geography, history, society, and language.”
Here is some additional information on Weave A Real Peace
Tuesday is Election Day for WRSW
Guild Meeting & Elections on Tuesday, October 28th, 6:30
Lake FarmPark
8800 Euclid Chardon Rd, Kirtland
Persistent Threads: Maya Culture in Maya Weaving
Laura Martin will draw on her vast knowledge of Mayan language, culture and art, both past and present, to acquaint us with the richness of Mayan textiles.
Laura plans to bring several wearable items and reference materials with her and will make those available for the audience to see up close.
She encourages members to attend the program in person to fully benefit from the experience of Mayan weavings.
Please also make every effort to attend the October business meeting either in person or via Zoom, in which we will elect our officers for 2026. The slate is follows: Karen Gerken and Quinton Dybo for Co-President, Sharon Baird for Vice President, Suzanne Paquin for Treasurer and Donna Mueller for Secretary. Many thanks to all who have agreed to step up and guide the Guild through another year.
Note, it you wish to request that an 2026 demonstration event be eligible for RAAM points, the forms are due October 31st, and you may bring it to the meeting.
Zoom Info:
Topic: WRSW October Meeting
Time: Oct 28, 2025 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting via link on WRSW Guild Calendar
October Guild Meeting Info
Guild Meeting & Elections on Tuesday, October 28th
Lake FarmPark
8800 Euclid Chardon Rd, Kirtland
Persistent Threads: Maya Culture in Maya Weaving
Laura Martin will draw on her vast knowledge of Mayan language, culture and art, both past and present, to acquaint us with the richness of Mayan textiles.
Laura plans to bring several wearable items and reference materials with her and will make those available for the audience to see up close.
She encourages members to attend the program in person to fully benefit from the experience of Mayan weavings.
Laura Martin holds a PhD in linguistics and retired in 2005 after more than three decades at Cleveland State University with appointments in Modern Languages, Anthropology, and Health Sciences. Her research and teaching have been focused primarily on language and culture in Maya communities, based on extensive field work in Guatemala and Mexico. Since 2007, she has been a volunteer docent at the Cleveland Museum of Art, has been making and exhibiting art as a member of Art Books Cleveland, and has continued to deepen her knowledge of the still thriving culture of Maya people.
Please also make every effort to attend the October business meeting either in person or via Zoom, in which we will elect our officers for 2026. The slate is follows: Karen Gerken and Quinton Dybo for Co-President, Sharon Baird for Vice President, Suzanne Paquin for Treasurer and Donna Mueller for Secretary. Many thanks to all who have agreed to step up and guide the Guild through another year.
Note, it you wish to request that an 2026 demonstration event be eligible for RAAM points, the forms are due October 31st.
Zoom Info:
Topic: WRSW October Meeting
Time: Oct 28, 2025 06:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting via link on Members Only page
New Website Update
The Website Committee needs your help to complete their work for the new website launch at the November celebration! Please visit and complete the following links BEFORE October 15th
WRSW Guild: Photo Release Form, Read Me First, Member Photo Folders
Your photos and contributions will take the new website to the next level.
A Request from the Program Committee
The Program Committee wants to thank those of you who responded to a request to add your voice to the 50th Anniversary celebration that is occurring in November.
The October 15th deadline is approaching, and there is still space available to be included in the evening’s presentation
Specifically:
Please reflect on your time with the Guild, and what it has meant to you.
Thinking ahead, What do you see in your fiber arts future and how does that involve the Guild?
Feel free to include one or two photos.
All this can be sent to JoEllen Salkin by October 15th.
Thank you,
The Program Committee
Oct/Nov Newsletter has been posted on the website
The newsletter can be found on the Members Only page of the website. You will need to log in to access it.
Sept 2025 Minutes posted on the website
The minutes for the September meeting are now available in the Members Only section of the website. You will need to login to access it.
Handouts from Sept Guild Meeting
The Handouts from Gigi Matthews presentation can be found here.
Updated 10/4/2025